Chest Waders

[peterpikefisher]

my first job was a trawler man ,when we done the life-raft training we were told to ware waders at least 1 & 1/2 sizes bigger than your shoe size the type with sholder straps keeping the straps loose ie :so you coulf fit 3 fingers between your sholder and the strap

the reason for this is that if you fall into deep water you could get out of them in about 5 seconds

 

 

we had to jump off the top diving platform in the commonwealth pool (Edinburgh) to see if we could achieve this fully clothed with waders on only one guy could not because his waders were a perfict fit lucky for him he was the instructer who was demonstraiting what would happen in this case he sank strait to the bottom of the pool . (two support divers ) in the pool helped him to the surface after cutting the waders off him

 

so be very careful when using waders .

[The Flying Tench]

Interesting that Andy mentions mud. I jumped in to a small stream at Barton Court, near Newbury, not realising that wading is not permitted. It looked about 2 or 3 feet deep, but it turned out the bottom was silt. I was close enough to the bank to pull myself out - just - it was like quicksand, seemed to suck me into it. What scared me was when I heard that another bit there, which also looked 2 or 3 feet deep, had been dug out to 12 feet deep! There must have been 9 feet of silt! If someone stepped into that I don't think they'd be likely to get out.

[lutra]

Lutra, That's the very point I was trying to illusrate on my wader thread.

If you know it's coming, it's a demo, you know there are other people there etc, it's all very well saying,

"This is what I'd do".

It's a completely different thing to being overcome very suddenly when you didn't know it was coming and you don't know how things are going to pan out. I'm sure if I was showing people how to get out of mud and there was a camera crew there and a hot shower at the ready, I'd have probably just lay down in it without fear, knowing the situation was under control and it would up to me when and how the 'accident' took place. It's nothing like reality. Training might help you in the event of an accident but it doesn't prepare you for the reality of the situation by any stretch, when you're panicking, full of adrenaline, tired, cold etc.

The main thing that gripped me was the fact that my body was reacting faster than I would have liked.

For example, I didn't ask to empty my lungs as hard & fast as possible. That was a subconscious reaction. If it had been up to me, I'd have relaxed, taken a breath when I wanted to and tried my best to keep things under control. That's not something you'd do if you're geared up for a demo. It's not even something I can replicate. It's like being winded with a punch.

That was why I posted that taking place. I know it could have gone very wrong and that's exactly why I thought people should know about it. Normally I'm super confident by water. It doesn't normally scare me at all and I became complacent beside it and nearly paid for it.

 

...Andy...

Its bad stuff that mud Andy, I remember as a teenager having to rescue a mate who had been wading in thigh waders and got in trouble. I had Waded to a little island in a lake and was fishing from there and my mate had gone for a walk/wade with his spinning rod and was working his way along nicely when he suddenly sank up to his neck having walked into a muddy patch under 3 feet of water. Lucky for him i spotted him in trouble and stripped off and swam over to him and pulled him out, as I'm not sure he would have got out on his own.

[arbocop]

my first job was a trawler man ,

 

we had to jump off the top diving platform in the commonwealth pool (Edinburgh) to see if we could achieve this fully clothed with waders on only one guy could not because his waders were a perfict fit lucky for him he was the instructer who was demonstraiting what would happen in this case he sank strait to the bottom of the pool . (two support divers ) in the pool helped him to the surface after cutting the waders off him

 

so be very careful when using waders .

 

My first job at 16 was on a trout farm, I was sent on training to Sparsholt and we did the same. Interestingly, as well as the waders being helpful as they trapped air, I learnt that tight hunter/aigle type wellies were really a problem - they filled up with water and weighed you down because you couldn't get them off. It's really difficult to stay afloat whilst wearing them if you didn't have bouyancy aids.

 

If you do fall in with wellies on, slip them off whislt reading water, turn them upside down and pull down onto your shoulders. They trap the air and if you hold them by the heel with your feet up, they make cracking bouyancy aids. I think this was in Salmo the Leaper as well.

[Andy Macfarlane]

In case you didn't read it...

 

Click - What Not To Do When Wearing Waders

 

...Anders...

[yorkio]

we had to jump off the top diving platform in the commonwealth pool (Edinburgh) to see if we could achieve this fully clothed with waders on only one guy could not because his waders were a perfict fit lucky for him he was the instructer who was demonstraiting what would happen in this case he sank strait to the bottom of the pool . (two support divers ) in the pool helped him to the surface after cutting the waders off him

So why did his waders drag him straight down to the bottom of the pool? And why did they need to be cut off before he could dragged up to the surface? Sorry if there's a really obvious answer to this one that I'm just not getting.

[grayson]

Chest waders - easy really , put them on , enter river ,catch fish , go home.Some care needed in deep/rocky water/fast water , doddle the rest of the time.Wading staff at all times ? Only if you want to clutter yourself up with stuff you dont need.Vital on some rivers - would not go near Upper Tees for example without them but unnecessary on many waters .

[Brian Carragher]

As usual when this topic comes up a lot of well intentioned advice comes up; unfortunatley most of its wrong, chest waders or waders of any sort do not present a danger to any angler if they happen to fall in

 

Water weighs the same wether inside or outside the welly and just because its full of water does'nt mean you'll sink, quite the reverse in fact, won't bore you with all the details but one night I saw the famous Hugh Falkus 'leap into a fast flowing river' clip and the next day the boat I was on went down in around 30 fathoms of water, I'm still here as are the other two occupants of the same said boat (well one has since died but not as a result of the sinking)